A New Threat is upon us
by Acrynie
Summary: Takes place after the Avengers. Asgard has been attacked and now heroes had to flee to Earth which is now threatened aswell. The Avengers will gather again, this time they are going to need Loki's help and a new heroïn named Sigyn will join the team.
1. Arrival

"Do you think you can keep up with me, brother ?"

"You have no idea!"

Thor laughed and climbed on his horse as easily as if the beast had been a calm teddy bear and not a tall stallion. The blond child turned his bright blue eyes toward Loki who was already on his mount and enjoined him to follow him. The boys pushed their horses forward and started galloping under Asgard's sky. They knew their father had forbid them to go this fast on their own but isn't childhood about doing forbidden things after all? In this moment they both felt happy, free, innocent. They were brothers and there was no doubt about this.

They both let go of the reins and opened their arms to feel the wind and the speed of the horses. Thor rose his tiny fist above his head and, shared a warm smile with his brother who yelled with him:

"Odinsons!'

…

Loki's eyes opened so suddenly that the weak light of the candles hurt his eyes for a moment. He wanted to rub the tiredness off his face, but he remembered that he could not move a muscle. His bonds of magical thorns were so tight it was even hard to breathe. The only thing he could do was blinking his eyes when he was not sleeping. He was living a nightmare, being awake or not.

After Thor had pulled him back to Asgard he had instantly been arrested, imprisoned and then judged in the eyes of all Asgard. Thor tried to take his defense and avoided him the death sentence. As a compensation, Odin condemned Loki to be bounded in thorns and to remain imprisoned until another Asgardian king would undo the judgment. Loki was still wondering why Thor had been so eager to protect him. After all he had done, why was he so indulgent? Why did he save his life?

The dream he just had was hammering his brain as hard as Mjolnir. His head was still filled with the memory of this day, with his brother's smile, with his own happiness. He knew he would never feel this way ever again. It was all gone and it would never come back to him. After months of being immobilized in the thorns, anger and madness had faded somehow, making room for another kind of bitter feeling to torture his mind: regret. Not only the regret of being a forsaken and a shadow but also of all his actions. His attempt in taking over the Earth was stupid and base. He had been a fool, deluded by childish desires. But... he was not going to repent. Loki knew the real nature of what he had done but he would never apologize. Why would he anyway?

He rolled his eyes to observe the room around him. The only thing that was changing was the light of day tinted through a narrow window that was ten feet high above his head. In Asgard the sky was multiple, in one step you could go from day to night and have a beautiful sunset on your right hand and admire a cosmic night sky on your left hand. From the small window of his cell, Loki could see a handful of stars vanishing in the golden light of the sun. It reminded him of the days spent as child trying to figure where the other realms were in this endless universe.

Then, suddenly, he felt a sudden urge to get out of his jail. He had felt this way before but this time it was violent, painful and his entire body was burning. He had to break free, now! The thorns strangled him even more, cutting deeply in his flesh. He would have yelled but the iron gag was keeping him hopelessly mute. Only his eyes could move, only his eyes could cry, only his eyes could see. And they saw.

All of a sudden, all hell broke lose. By the narrow opening in the wall, Loki saw the flames before he heard the terrible noises of the explosions. The walls started to shake and massive pieces of the ceiling crushed on the floor only a few inches from the bed of thorns.

Outside everyone was running. Terrified civilians were led to safe places by soldiers who were too surprised to understand anything. Everything was exploding, and falling to pieces. Children were left alone in the chaos, crying there eyes out. Warriors were trying to get organize but could not clearly identify their enemies. Panic took control of Asgard.

Sprinting through the palace, Thor was desperately looking for his mother, Jord. He found her by the great throne and ran to her breathless.

"Thor" she exclaimed when she saw him. "My son we have to go!"

"What?" Thor hissed as he reached her. "What do you mean leave?"

"Your father gave the order to evacuate Asgard by the portals we installed. I do not know what tragedy is upon us but Odin wants the people to run away from here."

Thor nodded but his heart felt heavy. He knew that if Odin gave such orders Asgard was almost lost. He wanted to try something but it was obvious that there was nothing to be done. Everyone was fleeing and he had to make sure they could go safely. This perspective of giving up was unbearable to him but he swallowed his pride and helped his mother down the great hall. To be faster he gently lift her in his arms and ran to the nearby portal.

After an endless corridor they finally reached the portal room where two guards were still waiting for them. The sound of the explosions was getting closer as the walls of the palace were falling one by one and huge pieces of stone were falling everywhere. Apparently they were among the last people to evacuate and the two soldiers encouraged them to hurry up. Thor put his mother on the floor as they got near the portal.

"Where does this one lead?" he asked one of the soldiers.

"Earth, my prince." the man answered briefly, taping complicated codes on a magical tablet in front of him. "We must hurry your grace, the portal will not last long."

As he took a step forward, Thor remembered something. A strange feeling tickled his mind, a feeling of lack and emptiness.

Loki. His brother was still in his cell!

He brutally stopped and his mother turned to him when she heard his exclamation of fright.

"What are you doing?" she shouted as the soldiers were pushing her toward the door.

"I have to get Loki!" Thor said in a panicked voice.

"This is madness Thor, you will never make it!"

"I can't leave him behind." He took his mother's hand and pressed it against his heart. "We will meet you on Earth, mother. Wait for us there and tell father we are okay."

Jord tried to beg her son not to go but it was too late. He had pushed her in the portal along with the two guards. She fell in the vortex faster than light and sound, crossing galaxies and worlds she had never seen. The light grew stronger and stronger as she was getting closer to her target: the Earth.

Would she ever see her sons again? Was Odin waiting for her? She did not have a clue, she only knew that she was alone now. Alone and desperate.

At this moment, on Earth, somewhere in Siberia an unusual storm was ravaging the icy desert. It was a succession of tornadoes of fire that vanished a second after they appeared. But the strangest thing in all this was the people these tornadoes seemed to be "delivering". They were no tornadoes, they were the different portals created by Odin to replace the Bifrost and the people landing in the snow were the Asgardian survivors.

Of course, the S.H.I.E.L.D was there and nick Fury was speechless in front of this scene. Jane Foster had called him some hours ago to tell him that abnormal magnetic disturbances had been detected above Siberia and that it looked a lot like the ones recorded when Thor landed on Earth for the first time. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D gave at once the order to his team to go there and once he was in the place he figured that it was worst than what he had expected.

After hours trying to organize the disoriented crowd, the agents, with the help of the Asgardian guards finally got the civilians calmed down but the mess was still terrible. Relief came when Odin arrived in one of the last portal openings. His appearance gave people hope and eased things up for the human agents.

As soon as he got there he asked to see Nick Fury and was lead to him by Natasha Romanoff and Barton who had been called for the occasion. On his way to Fury's truck he spotted Jord who was surrounded by some guards and looked awfully weakened. He ran to her, leaving Natasha and Barton behind, and took his wife in his arms.

She was so relieved to see him alive. Without being able to help it she broke in tears against Odin's chest. He helped her up and gave her his arm to balance lean against.

"My love, you are alive." he said in a broken voice. "I feared the worst. I am so sorry."

"I am too Odin." Jord muttered trying to get rid of the tears in her eyes without success. "Thor... Thor stayed behind."

Odin's face became livid.

"How is it possible?" he asked.

"He helped me getting to the portal. He was about to come with me but he said he had to get Loki. I am so sorry, my love, I could not stop him. He pushed me in the portal and it was over."

Natasha and Barton had joined them. When they heard Jord they shared a glance full of sadness. Did this mean that Thor was dead? At the same time, Nick Fury was walking to them, Jane Foster trotting behind him. The scientist's arms were full of papers and complicated instruments that were showing graphics and satellite views of the area. She was still talking to Fury when they got to Odin and his wife.

"...and it would mean that this one was the last one. The disturbances are wearing off and..."

She stopped as she saw the expression of pure agony on Odin and Jord's faces. Apparently this was exactly what they did not want to hear. Nick Fury greeted the two Asgardians politely and they told him what they knew about the situation. When it came to Thor, Jane felt her blood freeze. It was not the cold of the Siberian night that made her shake at this moment, but the idea that Thor was certainly dead. Fury took Odin and Jord to the tactical tent where they would try to find out a solution.

Jane sat in the snow staring at the white snow-flakes falling gently on the ground. She knew that she would be called in a minute to explain what she had found or to show the results of the latest calculations, but she did not care, she just needed a minute to swallow the information: Thor was dead.

She fell in love with a man she had spent twenty-four hours with and then she lost him without a farewell, without seeing him. She had spent months hoping she could see him again, looking at the sky in hope that she could catch a glimpse of him. And now he was gone for ever.

She wanted to cry but no tears were coming to her eyes. She just felt dry, cold and broken.

"Ho my gosh look at that!"

"Careful, it's coming back!"

"Move, move, don't stay here!"

Dozens of voices suddenly started to shout all over the camp and the wind started to blow and converge to the large burned circle where the Asgardians had arrived earlier. Some agents tried to secure the light objects that could be blown away by the tornado and children were placed in the cars and trucks for their safety.

Then thunder hit the ground and the noise was so loud everyone was deaf for a handful of seconds. Jane held on to the trunk of a nearby car not to fall down and was blinded by the flash of lightening. When she opened her eyes, the silence was back and all the eyes were staring at the zone where the thunder had fallen. Without knowing why, Jane ran down toward it. A strange smoke was surrounding the place where the portal had opened and she could barely see where she was going.

The smoke was hurting her eyes and she had to slow down to figure out where she was walking, but she could not even see the floor, nor her legs, nor her arms or nose. Suddenly, she cried out in surprise when her foot hit something soft that made a noise of _crac_ as she walked on it. She knelt in the snow and touched the strange thing with her shaking hands. It was an arm, and it was linked to a body and to a... coughing head.

"Hey! Are you okay? Can you hear me?" she asked, as she was trying to help the person up.

The smoke was fading more and more and they finally got on their feet but the Asgardian was so disoriented that he stumbled on Jane and they both fell back on the ground. Jane pushed back the man who was coughing his lungs out and sat by his side and slapped his back to help him breathe. She put a hand on his chest to pull him up and felt something warm and liquid flowing on her fingers. Was it blood?

"Mister you have to get up." she said pulling on his elbow. "We must get out of this smoke or it's only gonna get worst."

She could only distinguish his silhouette but it seemed to her that he nodded yes. He was terribly weak and breathed with difficulty. They got up successfully this time and walked awkwardly their way out of the smoke. She had put an arm under his shoulder to help him She heard Nick Fury's voice above all the others when she got closer to the lights of the cars that were out of the smoke.

"Miss Foster! Where are you?"

"Right here! There's an injured man here, he needs a medic!"

She was walking out of the smoke with the Asgardian tottering by her side when another voice came out of the smoke.

"Loki! Where are you!"

She recognized it at once, it was Thor!

Carried away by excitement, she rushed to Nick Fury's agents, to give them the injured man and run back to Thor. But when she got in sight, every single weapon was aiming at her.

"Do not move Jane." Fury said calmly.

"What? What the hell are you doing?"

"Don't worry Jane it's gonna be fine. Just get away from this guy."

She was completely out of the smoke and all the lights were converging toward her and the man she was helping. She slowly turned her glance to him and saw him for the first time. He had long black hair, a pale skin and dark green eyes. His features were very refined but blood was spilling from his nose and an iron gag was hiding half of his face.

She did not know what to do. He was badly hurt, now she could see the big cut in his chest, he was harmless. She was about to answer Nick Fury when the wounded man was snatched from her. She had not seen it but a big strong arm had just pulled the man away. When she turned around she saw Thor staring straight at her. He was holding the injured man by the arm and seemed to want to protect him.

"Hello again Jane." he murmured to her before turning to Nick Fury's men. "You can lower your weapons... he will not do anything."

"How can we be so sure?" Barton hissed, his arrow aiming straight at Loki's face.

"Because his powers were taken. You can believe me he is harmless."

Fury raised his fist and all his men lowered their guns. Jane felt like a huge burden was leaving her shoulders and breathed again. Then Odin went through the crowd and came to his son.

"Thor!" the old man shouted. "I can't believe it, my son. We thought you were..."

"No, father. But I bring terrible news." he turned his head to the group of agents behind his father and called. "Mister Fury."

"Yes?"

"You'd better call everyone. The Earth is in great danger."


	2. Decision

The sound of the waterfall was a sweet song, the touch of the wind a gentle caress and the laughter of the children a thousand bells of heaven. Fandral was teasing Sif, swimming in circles around the young girl who was trying to drown him for the tenth time. In her back, Thor was filling his mouth with water, waiting for the right moment to spit it all on his friends.

They were in their teens, still young and careless, wishing for nothing but going to the battlefield for the first time and become the mighty heroes the legends were full of. If they had only knew what legends were made of...

But they did not care, they were a million miles away from pain, sorrow and death.

Thor, who was now busy strangling Fandral, looked up above the waterfall, where his younger brother was still standing awkwardly on the edge of the narrow rock from which all the kids had jumped into the fresh water.

He waved at him and yelled "Come on Loki, the water feels good!"

The frail raven haired boy was nervously scratching his arm, looking down at the river where the others were swimming. It was so high...

"I... I don't think I want to swim anymore." he lied. "I'll just catch up with you later."

"Oh, come on Loki!" Thor pleaded. "You haven't even tried yet. Don't worry it's not dangerous."

"Just leave him up there Thor." the young and already fat Volstagg barked. "He's a wuss that's all."

Loki's blood rushed in his ears. He was not a wuss! But he was not stupid either, which was why he repressed his anger and did not show anything but a slight frown of his eye brows. He still had to work on this _hiding-the-feelings_ thing, maybe he could add a double edged smile to it... that was an idea worth going further into.

With a sigh, the boy turned back to step off the rock when his eyes suddenly met the smiling face of a little girl. She looked a bit younger than him and had an long braid of silver hair that was dancing in her back.

The young prince was so surprised to see this child in this place that he forgot all protocol and manners and just said "Hello."

"Hello." the tiny girl said with a nightingale like melodious voice. "What's your name?"

"Loki, and what is yours?"

"Sigyn." she whistled back. A flower fell on her pale face and tumbled along her cheeks. She shook her head like a little lion and asked "Why are you not going with the others?"

The question took Loki by surprise. He tried to come up with an excuse but he oddly felt like he was safe with this girl, like he didn't have to lie to her.

"I can't jump." he confessed. "It's too high and I'm scared."

The girl who's name was Sigyn, shook her head again and blinked her wide blue eyes. She took a step forward on the rock above the waterfall and without an hesitation, took Loki's hand.

"You jump if I jump?" she smiled.

Loki could not help but smile as well. He could not explain why but he was feeling unbelievably safe with Sigyn by his side. It was like she was blowing all troubles away, like her only presence was enough to forget fear itself.

He squished the soft hand in his and laughed as they both jumped from the rock into the blue water. He did not know it yet, but this moment was the the beginning of life's greatest gift: friendship.

"_You jump if I jump?"... Sigyn..._

"Don't worry... About a thing... 'cause every little thing's gonna be alright..."

Tony Stark's voice was an annoyance to everyone, especially when he was happy, and in this very moment, happy he was. Who could have blamed him? He had all reasons to be.

High above the Pacific Ocean, the massive ship of the S.H.I.E.L.D was flying to the secret head quarters with more than one hundred terrified Asgardians on board. Nick Fury was as grumpy as possible, Barton was running all over the place to avoid everybody and Natasha's wonderful cleavage was close enough for the billionaire playboy to admire it endlessly.

But the one thing that was making him as happy as a child at the funfair, was the badly injured Loki that was racked with pain on a stretcher in the middle of the lab. Thor was walking all around his brother, mumbling and fuming while Odin was talking with Nick Fury.

The god of thunder could not stay still for more than three seconds and was walking in circles around the stretcher like a lpanthere in a cage. Meanwhile, Jane was scanning over and over again Loki's injury but did not find any solution. It looked like the metal blade that was stuck in his chest was poisoning him and there was no way to take it out, like if it was clenching to his flesh. The slightest touch caused so much pain that his screams could be heard even with the gag on.

The scientist looked up at Tony Stark who was still singing in a corner of the room, he had just taken his iron suit off and was wearing some old black sport suit.

"Could you please stop that?" she grunted. "I'm trying to focus here."

"Don't tell me you do not like Bob Marley!" Stark smiled. "I think it's just appropriate right now, I mean look around you: people panicking all over the place, gods falling from the sky and the emo boy on the merge of dying. Some Rastaman vibrations would be just good now."

Jane was not in the mood to laugh at such cheap jokes. She threw him an icy reproachful glance but that was not the reason why Stark decided to close his mouth. Thor had stopped walking and was staring at him as well. The Nordic man looked like he was going to wring Stark's neck, and the fellow was conscious that he could have done it with only one finger.

"Thor." Fury called, interrupting the man in his vindictive reflexions. "Odin and I have discussed about it and we came to the conclusion that there's no way we can save Loki."

Thor's face turned red.

"What? You are going to leave him to die?"

"My son." Odin tempered. "This is terrible but you have to accept it. For now Loki is nothing but a mortal and his injury can only be healed by the powers of a true Asgardian."

Stepping forward to face Thor, Fury delivered the truth that was stuck in Odin's throat "This means that to save him your father must give his powers back to Loki... and this ain't an option."

The words felt like ice pikes in Thor's heart. He stared at Odin who might have been his last chance, but his father's face was deadly white and his expression of surrender just confirmed that his decision was taken.

It was costing him a lot as well but he knew his responsibilities as king. Loki had been dangerous in the past and it was nothing but normal that everyone was scared of what he would do if he was to get his powers back.

Thor knew all of this perfectly well and a part of him was pushing him to assent, he had to behave as a king and protect everyone, he could not afford such risks just to save one person. But it was unbearable to him. He still had faith in Loki, he wanted to believe that he would change, that he would be his brother again.

He turned his gaze to him and saw the injury in his chest and the pain in his eyes. He was getting weaker every seconds and his glance was beginning to faint. The deep green eyes were now looking at nothing and the flame of life was fading away.

_ But it is still here_, Thor thought, _he is still alive._

"We must not let him die." he said, spinning around to face Nick Fury.

"Thor, listen..."

"He has informations." Thor interrupted him abruptly not to give him any chance to argue. "He knows what sort of enemy has attacked Asgard and he knows there plans. Without him we are blind, do you really want to go out in the blue against these creatures?"

The director froze. What Thor had just said was changing everything... but was it wise to give terrible powers to a dangerous man just for hypothetical informations?


	3. Target

**Sorry for the last chapter, it went a bit later than promised but it's exams time in France and I didn't have much time to breathe lately =). Sorry again about this second chap, it is very short and quite useless but I felt guilty not to upload anything and decided to write a bit faster. Thank you and lots of kisses to everybody !**

* * *

Natasha broke the silence by walking between Fury and Thor who now looked like an atomic bomb on the merge of exploding. His fists were hard as two rocks and large veins were pulsating on his muscular neck.

He was playing his last cards, the red haired agent knew. He desperately wanted to save his brother and it seemed that it was the only thought running through his mind. This was what brought Natasha not to trust him and his assertion. She had to confront him first.

"You have a point." she said in this calm and firm tone that was her trademark. "But first I would like to understand how he can know anything about what's going on, since he was supposed to be locked up in a cell in Asgard."

Thor's face changed. _Touché!_ Natasha thought. But she got disillusioned when she saw on Thor's features that he was not lying. He was sincere, the fear that was spinning in his icy blue eyes was only due to the fear of not being believed. His eyes were yelling "_Listen to me, Do not think me as a liar!"_.

"He has been pulling his tricks for a long time." the god of thunder answered, remaining composed. "He did not tell me anything but he knows the enemy. He proved it when we were running from the palace. We were about to reach the portal when one of these... monsters showed up. It had not seen us yet and I was about to jump on it, to take it by surprise. But Loki stopped me. If it was not for him I would have been killed by this thing, because I did not know it was an illusion, a decoy for me to fall in it's trap. If we got out alive, it's because Loki knew their ways and how to lure them."

The agent Romanov nodded. She shared a glance with Fury who cleared his throat after a second of reflexion.

"What do you think, your... majesty, Odin?" he asked straight away.

The king of Asgard closed his eye for a second and shook his white head. The situation was getting out of hand. What to do? Where to go? How did he get to this point, having to choose if his son was to live or die. His son, even tho he was not his flesh and blood, he had raised and loved him as so. And now this child was the person who hated him the most in the entire universe.

When he looked back up at Thor his lips were firmly closed in a thin line. He took a step forward and stopped by Thor's side, just above Loki who was coughing new drops of blood through his nose.

"If he tries anything." Odin set out "If he gets out of hand I will have to... destroy him, do you understand?"

The approval was hard to give but Thor had no choice, he knew it.

"I do understand father. I will personally see that he does not... try anything."

The blond god looked at Fury, determination burning bright in his gaze "I am taking the responsibility of Loki's actions from now on. I swear it to you."

Apologizing for interrupting them, Jane pointed out that Loki's vital signs were going down and that if they were going to take a decision they should take it fast.

Nick Fury silently spat a curse, walked to Thor and took him by the arm. His grip was firm enough for the Asgardian to almost feel pain.

"Be sure" he grunted "that your father won't be the only one-eyed pissed off old man if Loki builds some new shitty plans. If it was not for the respect I have for you godly father, I would have gladly put a bullet in this moron's head. Do not forget it."

No, he was not going to forget.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the hangar where a part of the Asgardian civilians had been placed, the agent Clint Barton was looking for a mother. The child that was crying in his arms was four years old at most and could only say that his _mommy_ was blonde and was wearing a golden dress. Of course it would have been easier for Clint if all the women had not been blonde with golden dresses. But at least it was keeping his mind from thinking about Loki.

This damned bastard was alive and protected by his idiot of a brother. What the hell was going through Fury's mind for letting this maggot live? He had taken so much from him? He had put him through sufferings that made death itself look welcoming by dragging his worst memories and fears, by manipulating his feelings and turning him into a monster. Because of this demented fool's madness he had betrayed everything he had sworn to serve and protect. He even threatened Natasha...

If Fury was eager to listen to Thor's poor pleadings now, then so be it, it was none of his concern anymore, they could all go to hell.

Clint was pulled back into reality when the child in his arms started to wriggle like a fish out of water "Mommy, mommy!" he squealed holding out his arms to a woman who ran toward him.

The archer gave the kid to his mother that was crying tears of joy. He left them after ruffling the boy's hair. At least everything was not completely dark.

He walked out of the hangar and headed for the engine section where he would go through the artillery to keep his brain busy and make sure he would still be able to turn Loki into a little puddle of blood if he had the chance. As he was rushing through the corridors without bothering to look up at the people he was crossing, he stumbled into someone and would have fell on the ground if strong hands had not caught him.

"We're a bit grumpy today, aren't we?" a familiar voice laughed.

Clint pivoted swiftly to see the one who was holding his arm. A large smile appeared on his face when he saw her and he said "Hey Sigyn. Still alive?"

The tall silver haired woman was shaken by a warm laughter that brought back some sweet memories to Barton. The good old smell of coffee, cigaret and gun powder was all over her, just like back in the time when they fought side by side. He was a young agent when he was first introduced to this strange woman. She had taught him almost everything he knew and was one of his oldest friends. Her deep blue eyes had mesmerized him once, but with the time appeal was replaced by friendship and respect. She had saved him so many times it was hard to recall the number and the dept he owed her was eternal.

It was good to see her in these crazy times.

"It's hard to kill me old man." she smiled, giving him a rough embrace.

"Old man?" Clint snarled "I'm not the nine hundred year old lady here!"

A greedy bear like smile appeared on her still delicate features. He was right, she was nine hundred and eleven years old but still looked like a twenty year old girl. Her age was an approximation, for she could not remember anything of her life before the day she _woke up_ in a small village in the country that would be called Norway some hundred years later. The only information she had about her forgotten past was her name that was written on a golden bracelet she was wearing on her left wrist. She had been living on earth for centuries, without aging nor dying and she could not understand why. She had bounced between madness and despair for decades after seeing all those she loved dying without following them in the grave. But with the time, she learned to let go, to live with the memories of the long gone friends and enjoy the present.

She had tried to remain discrete, but in 1949, she accidentally knocked down a building during a fight, which rang the S.H.I.E.L.D's bell. Since this time she had been an efficient and resourceful agent. Her inhuman strength and ability to heal from any wounds were mysteries to all the S.H.I.E.L.D's experts but it also was a blessing. A blessing, or a curse? a question she was not able to answer to, for she did not even know anything about her origins.

She shook her head, causing her hair to ruffle around her face like a lion's mane.

"Okay Robin Hood." she continued, being serious again "Fury asked me to go to the lab with you. There's something we must take care of. Do you have any idea of what the hell that's all about?"

Clint sighed, of course he knew what it was about, and that was making him even angrier. He was not comfortable with being in the same ship as the monster, but the idea of standing in the same room... was unbearable. A grimace of disgust twisted his features as he nodded yes.

"Let me lead you to the lab, you'll understand better if you see that mess yourself." he grunted.

They walked up the iron corridors leading to the lab, being pushed by stressed agents running from a room to another and crossing Asgardian civilians or soldiers. The foreigners seemed so disoriented and torn it was almost painful to look at them.

As they were reaching the lab, the air started to feel thickened with apprehension and anger. They met Tony Stark, who was tipping briskly on the screen of a small tablet, at the lab's doorstep. He looked up at them when they came to him and grinned in his most ironic tone "I hope you like green emo reindeer, cause one is ready to get his ass kicked right there."

He switched off the tablet and put it back in his pocket before escorting the two agents to the laboratory's door. When he stepped in, Barton felt his hands closing into fists and a sudden urge to get out burning in his spine.

Loki was up, healed, rising and shining.

Well, maybe not that shining after all, he was holding his stomach like if he was going to be sick and his fine brows were frowned above his green eyes, which caused a great inner-pleasure to Barton.

Nick Fury did not even look at the two newcomers and lead Odin out of the room, whispering low enough for no one to hear what their discussion was about. The metal doors slid close and silence fell back on the room like a hundred tonnes of bricks.

Natasha came to Barton and Sigyn without looking up at them. She was staring at a strange weapon in her hand. It was larger than a regular hand-gun and had the shape of some kind of... electric shaver. Barton gently took it from Natasha as Stark was giving them an unbelievably large smile.

"You wonder what it is, don't you, Robin Hood?" he asked, obviously dying to tell him what it was.

"Well, it looks weird... and stop calling me that, can't you come up with somethin' else?"

"As you wish, Legolas." the billionaire picked up the weapon and gestured at Loki. "I just gave the guy a taste of this marvelous invention. Officially it was to wake him up and to stimulate his heart, but I only did this for my own content."

From the corner of his sharp eye, Barton saw Thor fighting to hide his smile, it was annoying to the god of thunder, as much as it pleased him.

"And it is some kind of a _super-Asgardian-taser_?" Sigyn asked.

"Exactly!" Stark smiled at the beauty. "It is designed to be ten times stronger than a regular taser."

"Okay, I totally endorse the _Loki-taser_." Barton grinned.

His back turned to them, the mentioned Loki mumbled something -imaginatively rude, of course- in his gag.

"We should get this thing off of his mouth." Natasha suggested as she walked back to him.

"No, no, no!" Stark jumped. "He can write perfectly well, I bet."

"Yes, and I do not have the key anyway." Thor added.

Loki's eye-roll was almost audible and he snatched the paper and pen from Stark's hands with an expression of pure anger and despite printed in his features.

He wrote down the informations the others needed and, after awhile, handed the paper back to Stark with a nod of his head. The billionaire read out loud: "Enemies are people of Ulgreheim, unknown yet but they know us. Want to extend their Realm. They are shape shifters and warlocks, not friendly! Asgard under their command because of mall. Need to find mall on Midgard otherwise you dead... hum, well yeah, we get the picture."

"You mean we can still avoid invasion of the Earth?" Thor asked.

Loki nodded yes. He took back the paper and scribbled some new sentences as fast as possible while Natasha was reading above his shoulder.

"I know Midgard's mall... They need mall to get in... I'm no mall. You must believe me."

"Well then who is that mall we've got to catch?" Barton barked.

Loki sighed loudly. He wrote down two words, then handled the note to Stark.

"Armand Stark..." Tony became livid.

All pairs of eyes were now on him. Tony Stark was not the kind of man who could easily be disoriented, but this was a kick in the teeth. He swallowed with difficulty and finally said.

"This is my cousin we're gonna catch."

The tension was so strong in the room that everyone almost jumped when the door opened on Nick Fury's face. He walked to the center of the room, snatched the paper from Tony's hands and started to give orders straight away after reading the notes on it.

"Natasha, localize this Armand Stark, then we'll prepare the tactical approach to get him with Barton's help. Stark, you'll contact Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers since you're the only one who knows where these two are hiding. Jane, you keep and eye on the magnetism disturbances, if any Realm or Tesseract thing sneezes I wanna know it. And Thor... you're to guard Loki, I don't like it but I need him to tell me the Ulgreheim guys' plans. You'll be backed up by the agent Sigyn. Now to work, we have a world end to prevent!"

Fury gestured at Thor and Loki to follow him. Sigyn quietly followed even thought she was not happy at all about being Loki's baby-sitter. After all she had heard about this man, she was not eager to protect him nor befriend. But orders were orders.

Upset and crossed as she could be, the silver haired woman loaded her gun and secured the holsters under her jacket, just to ease the tension.

She was angry, but there also was something else, something disturbing. She had no idea of the meaning of this but a strange nausea was twisting her inside. She had not seen him face to face since she had entered the laboratory, but there was something about this Loki that was catching her attention. It was some sort of...

_Déjà-vu._


	4. Party

Childhood feels like a dream. It flows slow and fast, it hurts and it's sweet, it's ugly and beautiful. It is a piece of life that is never coming back to any of us, and even if some of us have had the worst pains to endure, there is always going to be a ray of sunshine somewhere in their childhood.

Loki's sunshine was named Sigyn. From the first moment, when she took his hand above the waterfall, she had always been a smile to look up to in the dark. Through the years the two children of Asgard shared their fantasies, wiped away each other's tears, stayed up late at night to watch the stars and dream about breathtaking adventures. As time passed, Loki grew to become the Prince of Asgard he was born to be and Sigyn became a gifted beauty with a wonderful mind. The protocol and their respective responsibilities pushed them apart.

But, when no one could see them, they would meet at the waterfall that saw their first encounter. Finally at peace, they could be themselves. Loki was relieved of his burden as Prince and Sigyn was able to show her talents as a magician. The young Prince had asked his witchcraft-master to teach Sigyn in complete secrecy. Learning together, they grew better and better in the art of magic. Their lives were perfect then. They were safe and no one was to break their happiness. _No one, ever._

One night, as he was coming back from the library, Loki heard voices in his brother's chambers.

Sigyn had left for Jotunheim with her father, the alchemist master, to gather special ice-stones for his potions. Boredom was strangling Loki, for Thor was training with the Warriors Three all the time, without paying attention to him. He was alright with it, since it was giving him plenty of time to bury himself in books. But, on this night, he had been _buried _a bit too deep and it was the middle of the night when he stumbled out of the library. He was about to reach his chambers when he heard voices coming from Thor's chambers. He was a bit surprised, no one was supposed to be there at this late hour. Was Thor seeing someone? A girl?... It suddenly sounded interesting to the young Loki, who was already smiling to the idea of having such crucial informations about his brother.

He leant against the wall by the high golden doors that were half opened on his brother's wide chambers, allowing him to hear every word of the conversation. Unfortunately no feminine voice was to be heard. Instead, it was his father's voice that echoed through the room.

Was it boredom or real interest that drew him to listen at his brother's door? He did not know himself, but afterwards he would start to think that he had been meant to hear this in this very moment. So, he heard what was going to follow him in his dreams for a lifetime.

"You must let me speak to him, father." Thor said.

"No, I think it can wait until tomorrow morning." Odin answered. " Loki will be ravaged, this is most sure. So let him rest and dream tonight. Tomorrow will be painful enough."

"But... what happened to her? The guards said it was a problem with the Bifrost but how..."

"I am not sure, my son. But I think that they have been attacked by some Jotun renegades and the transfer in the Bifrost did not work the entire way long. Sigyn has been... lost during the transfer."

"Do you think she is dead?"

"I do not know. Even the Gatekeeper is clueless about her."

"How are we going to tell Loki?"

"Even I cannot answer, my son."

In this moment, something broke inside Loki's heart. It was cold and sharp, cutting through his entrails and torturing his flesh. Pain frost him inside out and he could only let himself fall to the ground, powerless, bitter tears flowing down his cheeks.

In an instant, just like this, she was gone. She had told him she would come back soon... but she was never going to come back. _Ever. _

_..."You jump if I jump?"..._

Back in present days, Nick Fury was staring at the large lab screen, on which silhouettes were moving fast in the streets of Paris. The agents Romanov and Barton had been sent to scout the area around Armand Stark's mansion, not far from Saint Germain des Près. Tony Stark's cousin was extremely wealthy, for he had built his fortune over the petrol industry in Russia, by buying the areas where the precious black gold had been sleeping unnoticed. On this very evening, his mansion was crowded with politics, famous artists and rich businessmen. They were all here for a reception given by the billionaire. This was a blessing for Fury's team.

There sure was awful a lot of witnesses and bodyguards, but this gala was a great opportunity to get in easily. Tony just had had to call his _beloved cousin_ and in a matter of minutes, he got three invitations for the gala. Then it was only a matter of determining who was to come with him to get into this mascarade. Natasha and Barton declined instantly, Jane was not comfortable with the idea and Banner and the Captain had not arrived. So it became obvious that Tony's last partners would be the two Norse Gods. It occurred that Loki was needed to shut down the communication with the Ulgreheim army and that he was not to be separated from Thor.

"But we also need a lady." Tony added. "We will look very conspicuous otherwise."

Sigyn tried to argue, but it was already too late and she was hired to go to the reception dressed up as a perfect _Madame_. Since there were only three tickets, Sigyn, Tony and Loki would play the guests and Thor, the bodyguard.

Uncomfortably sitting on the backseat of a black Bentley, Sigyn was grimly looking outside the tainted window. She was trying hard not to tear her hideous dress to pieces. She desperately longed for a cigarette and a shot of good Vodka to forget that she was dressed up and painted like a winning horse at the Kentucky Derby. Stark and Thor were sitting facing her, the billionaire was enjoying a good Whiskey looking at her with greedy eyes.

"I wish I could be surrounded by girls like you." he smiled. "It would be far more comfortable."

"Ask Thor or Loki to get you _comfortable_, boy." the agent grinned back.

Tony took another sip from his glass and sighed deeply.

"I told Fury that I needed _girls_ to get in. We will definitely look weird."

"I am a woman, thank you very much." Sigyn gasped.

"Sorry? I did not quite understand this last bit, Mister I-am-an-imortal-killjoy."

It was hard for her not to draw out her blade. She was going to reply when she heard Loki laughing by her side. His gag had been removed a few hours ago, but he still had not spoken a word. He had just followed them in the car, tossing angry glances at everyone. He was very strange, especially when he was looking at her, and he was not even _looking_ at her, he was _staring_. Every time she felt his glance, it was like he was seeing right through her. And the pain in her stomach was also going harder each time she was near him. And now she was sitting right next to him, it was unbearable. His lips were opened on a sharp unbelievably large smile.

"You should not worry for that, Stark." he said, still smiling.

On these words, he clapped his hands once and was surrounded by a golden light that warmed up the air for an instant. On the next second, Loki was not sitting by Sigyn's side anymore. The person who had taken his place was a tall, beautiful black haired woman, wearing a fabulous green dress with golden high heeled shoes that matched her discrete but elegant jewels. Her green eyes were planted into Tony's, who was astonished.

"Is this feminine enough for you mister Stark?" the Lady Loki said in a suave tone. She genuinely crossed her legs, revealing a knee. Her cleavage was dangerously deep and it became hard for Thor and Tony to breathe.

When they got out of the limo, Stark took grip of his old self back and entered the mansion with a smile on his face. A lady on each arm, he walked pass groups of stunned people. Lady Loki seemed at ease, not disturbed by the dozens of eyes staring at her. She was politely laughing and conversing with the hosts, innocently sipping champagne. As for Sigyn, acting in society was not a problem either for she had centuries of practice. Even though she hated every second of it, she acted like a perfect lady and drew the attention of all the men who were not already mesmerized by Lady Loki.

This was the perfect diversion, half of the hosts were busy trying to catch a glimpse of Tony Stark and his two adorable partners. It allowed Natasha and Clint, dressed as maid and butler, to infiltrate Armand's personal wing of the mansion. Thor joined them, pretending to look for a breach in the security system. He knocked out three body guards on his way to the agents and punched the locked doors open for them.

Down in the drawing room, by the buffet, Tony was faking a discussion with the two women when his earplug started to tickle him.

"Tony" Natasha called. "You can come up and help us, leave Loki and Sigyn down here. Sigyn, I'm counting on you, keep both eyes on Loki."

Tony took a last look at the girls' cleavages, and discretely sneaked out of the room. As he got up the stairs and reached his cousin's personal wing, he managed not to blush seeing Natasha Romanov dressed as a chamber-maid.

"If I was a fan-boy I would have a nose bleed." he grinned, patting Clint's shoulder.

The archer just punched him in the stomach and Tony pretended not to feel any pain.

"When you're finished boys... We might get to work?"

The plan was simple: neutralizing Armand's security systems within his own wing, then waiting for Loki to use his spell on the French billionaire to make him come up, afterwards they relied on the God of Mischief to find the Ulgrech artefact.

"Alright, the wing is blind no cameras can see us now." Clint said in his communicator when the last camera was shut down. "Foster, can you tell us where Armand is?"

There was no answer. Natasha tried to call Jane as well but she only got the same silence in her earplug. Thor got nervous, why was she not responding? She was supposed to be watching the ball-room where Loki and Sigyn were, waiting for their signal.

"Something's not right." roared Natasha, trying all of the frequencies on her communicator. "Nothing works, I can't believe it!"

"Can't you?"

They all turned around when they heard the voice laughing those words. Standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by a dozen of bodyguards, was Armand Stark. He was holding a gun in his right hand, and at the end of it was Jane's head. The girl could not move, strangled by the billionaire's arm. Thor felt blood pumping in his head, and nearly lost control, but calmed down when he saw that the bodyguards were not humans. They were all Ulgrechs.

"You have always been crrrap in strategy, _cher cousin_." Armand said. "And you even are capable of getting ridiculed when other people are helping you, _pathétique_."

"You just need to speak English to sound pathetic... I don't." Tony answered.

"_Idiot d'Américain_... let me put it this way: check mate!"

As those words rang, the air started to taste thick and salty. Tony realized it was gas when he saw Natasha and Clint falling to the ground and felt himself fainting. His last thought was that he had invented this special gas... what irony?

Meanwhile, among a crowd of elegant rich people, Sigyn and Loki were starting to lose their patience.

"What the hell are they doing?" the blond woman mumbled, pretending to take a sip of champagne. "Are they having tea or something? We can't even locate the bastard in that f... blasted crowd."

"Are you afraid of drowning in champagne?" Loki spat. "In your case it might be a good thing."

"You know, when I talk like this I'm not addressing to you. I don't need you to answer and I don't even want you to. I actually wouldn't mind if you did not talk or breathe at all."

Lady Loki was about to answer something sharp and irritating mixed with an ironic smile when a terrible nausea stormed in her stomach. She nearly threw up but took hold of the table behind her not to fall. Sigyn took her by the arm and helped her up.

"What now?" she asked.

"I... I can't hold this b... body any longer."

"You...What? You've got to be kidding!"

"If I don't sh...shift back I'll have some serious problems."

Loki's pretty face was twisted by pain and Sigyn saw with horror that the lips were getting thinner and paler, the hair was shrinking and the womanly clothes were progressively disappearing. She pulled Loki towards the lady's room, trying hard to make it look like some indigestion. Thank heavens, the bathroom was empty when they reached it and Sigyn locked the door behind her as Loki fell on her/his knees. A shriek of pain rose from the shifter's chest and an ungodly sound of broken bones followed.

"It was not that hard back in the car." Sigyn pointed out, not too stressed by the situation. It was in fact very comforting to see this legendary moron in so much pain. She picked a cigaret in her hand bag and lit it up with a smile.

"It's always easier the first... time." Loki answered, still fighting against himself.

There was another flash of gold and the shrieks stopped. The tall man stood up, smartly dressed in a black tuxedo with golden buttons. He was out of breath but seemed in better shape than earlier.

"Some men will be so disappointed." Sigyn said. "I'm sure you'd love to have your way with businessmen."

"I don't need them when I have you, alone, in the bathroom."

Ordinarily the Norse woman would have made him have a taste of her fist, but this time she chose to spare him.

"Anyway." she said. "The plan is dead if you can't be a girl anymore and your face is too well known."

"Is it?"

"Videos of your attack on New-York are all over Youtube, everyone wants to cut off the head of the _Horned green_ man." she pressed on her earplug. "Agent Sigyn broadcasting, I'm in need of a cover to evacuate the perimeter, over... Does anybody copy? Over..."

After decades of working as a special agent, Sigyn had learned not to remain in one place for too long, especially when the situation was not going in accordance with the plan. She took handcuffs out of her hand bag, clipped one around Loki's left wrist and the other around her's.

"How intimate." he snarled.

"Shut up and act like you're in a lot of pain."

On these words, she punched him in the stomach as hard as she could, which meant very very hard. Loki instantly bowed, gasping. There was no need for play acting. The blond woman pulled him out of the bathroom, shaking him like a puppet.

"Everyone please let me through!" she barked loudly. "I'm part of the security team, please step aside. This man is an intruder, I'll escort him outside. Please ladies and gentlemen remain calm and do not interfere."

As odd as it might seem, it worked. Too surprised to act, the bodyguards did not make a move and everyone let the two people walk through the ball-room, straight towards the door. They reached the court yard and rushed pass the gate, Loki still folded up, coughing his lungs out. Sigyn knocked out a guard who tried to stop her as they were reaching the street. Once out of the mansion, she forced Loki to stand straight and started to run. Their hands were handcuffed, so he had to follow her as she sprinted on the pavement. After putting some distance between them and the mansion, they stopped running and took a break to breathe. It was at this moment that their communicators crackled and that Nick Fury's voice rang in them.

"Can anyone hear me?" he was barking. "Here's director Fury, answer me!"

"Yes, director!" Sigyn answered. "I've lost contact with the others and I left the place with Loki. There's been a problem."

"I know..." There was a sound of gunshot and a struggle. Fury's voice became fainter, like he was far from the microphone. "Armand knew we were coming and he located us. Our headquarters are under attack. I made the Asgardian civilians evacuate on a plane but the Ulgrech will find them if no one hides them."

"What about Stark and the others? Thor is still inside and..."

"Forget it!" his voice was pressing and full of apprehension. "Your priority is to make sure they don't get hold of Loki, he is our last chance to get rid of the invaders. Go to Scotland, this is were I've sent the Asgardians we'll meet you there with God's help and we'll sort something out. Leave Paris now, this is an order."

"Fury." snapped Loki. "Tell your men not to touch the Ulgrech's skin or they'll be burnt. Find Odin and tell him to use the _Tree _spell, he'll understand."

"Thanks for the advice but..." there was a glimpse of sadness in the director's voice and it took him some seconds to finish his sentence. "... Odin went down, I'm sorry. You're on your own."


	5. Mind Torture

What is loss? How does it feel? Can one cry for the hated ones? Or, does hatred even exist?

He had loved his _father _once. He had worshiped him and looked up to him before standing face to face with reality, with that cruel truth that had made a lie out of everything he had once thought. He had hated this man, this liar. He had looked forward to seeing him dead. But in the end, there was still a doubt. Had he ever really hated him? Had he been wishing for the death of a man or the one of an idea? Was it certain that his hatred and anger were his very own? Or was it nothing but an illusion?

All those questions were roaring in Loki's mind like a burning stream of guilt and remorse. No tears had come to his eyes and no words to his lips either. He could not move nor think straight anymore. It felt like a huge emptiness in his chest, a terrifying silence in his mind and a taste of ice on his tongue.

When Fury's words had found their way through Loki's mind, his body stopped all activity and his consciousness drew away. He saw himself being forced to walk by Sigyn. She had pulled him through the wet streets once again and had made him climb into the first car she had found. She had talked, to called, slapped him to get his attention but nothing had worked. He was just blankly staring at her, unable to voice a word.

The sun was rising when they reached Calais and its Channel tunnel leading straight to England. A ray of sunshine pierced through the clouds and colored the inside of the car in all shades of pink and orange. The contrast between the shining new sun and the dark clouds was breathtaking, the drops of water on the windows of the vehicle looked like thousands of small diamonds rolling on the horizon. Loki, sitting in the passenger seat, was looking at the cars they were driving past, his handcuffed hand following Sigyn's movements as she was driving.

Even though she was as exhausted as he was, she was not showing any sign of it. A pair of sunglasses was shielding her blue eyes from the light that was playing in her hair. She had tried to contact Fury again but no one had answered. Her satellite and S.H.I.E.L.D devices had stopped working. They were alone.

She turned her glaze to Loki for a second to check if he was asleep. His eyes were empty but opened.

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked.

He did not answer, but turned his glance on her and his expression seemed a little more lively.

"I... I wanted to say that I'm sorry about your father." she tried.

For a second he felt the urge to say that Odin was _not_ his father, but it somehow felt wrong. As if it had been an obsolete thought, the denial wore off on his tongue and vanished instantly. Odin was his father -had been his father. It was useless to deny it now.

"You know... I never knew my parents." Sigyn said sensing he was not as hostile as she had thought. "I was adopted, in a way, by a woman who was priest of Skadi. She took care of me, taught me everything. When she died... I wanted to die with her. Losing a parent is a hard thing. Because no matter what you do, they are the only people who can not be your enemies."

It felt like an appeasing balm and, at the same time, it rang a new bell in his mind. He had not rethought about it since Odin's death had taken hold of his spirit, but now it was coming back to him. Sigyn. The girl who had disappeared in the Bifrost, taking all of his happiness with her. The girl from his childhood.

When he had first seen her, back in the S.H.I.E.L.D's lab, he had not believed it. He had tried to persuade himself she was just some human who happened to look exactly like her, but there was no doubt left when he saw her neck. Just underneath the right ear was a small scar in an "L" shape. It had been made by Sif as the two little girls were playing with wooden swords.

Not willing to let anyone else know about his discovery, Loki remained silent and acted as if nothing had happened. He also wanted to know if she had recognized Thor, Odin or any other Asgardian. It soon appeared that she was completely amnesic, the Bifrost had wiped her memory and she had landed on Midgard with nothing but the bracelet on which her name was written. The jewel was still hanging at her wrist under the thick leather of the jacket she had put over her cocktail dress.

She had changed so much. From a delicate and gifted noble girl, she had become an uncanny, disillusioned and tired soldier who smelled of liquor, coffee and tobacco. But there was still a glimpse of wittiness in her eyes. That clever smile and untamed attitude that had once defined her beautiful personality were still there.

He wanted to tell her the truth, but how? Would it work? Would she remember? The one thing that was sure was that he would never get hold of her old self back. She had already lead a long life. Centuries of experiences are not meaningless in one's mind. She had been through pain and happiness, she had seen war and times of peace. She was, in a way, so much older than him.

"We're gonna reach the tunnel soon." she suddenly pointed out, shaking him out of his visions with her harsh voice. "Pretend you're asleep when we'll drive past the policemen."

He nodded yes and closed his eyes, resting his head against the window.

**…**

The sun was rising on Paris as well. The streets of the great city were filling with people heading for their bureaus, classes or their own houses after a night at the bar. The Parisians were leading their lives not knowing what was going on right over their heads.

At the twentieth flour of Armand Stark's Palace, five prisoners were looking at the city's rooftops through a tainted glass. No one could see them, the world was blind to their suffering, and suffering they were.

They were chained by their wrists over the floor, just high enough to touch the ground without being able to rest on it. They were blindfolded so they could hear each other but not see what was happening. It was all part of the psychological torture, while one of them was being "questioned", the others could hear his cries of pain while remaining powerless. They had spent the night like this, forbidden to sleep, drink or eat. Around four o'clock in the morning Armand had left them under guard to take some rest. The Ulgrechs had put a special artefact on Thor that forbid him to call upon Mjölnir. His powers as Asgardian were shielding him from most shocks, but their extraterrestrial guards knew their way around him. Natasha and Clint had had a special training to withstand moral and physical torture, but Tony had not and was in a critical estate. As for Jane, she had stopped crying two hours ago and was not answering to anyone's calls. Their situation was more than critical.

"They will... come for... us. Fu... Fury's gonna come..." Tony whispered through his bloody lips. It was audible that many of his teeth had been broken. "Huh? They always come... don't... they?"

"Keep your strength Stark." voiced Barton. "You'll need it later."

Tony's chains clattered as he was struggling to breathe. Having your arms held up in the air is not just ungodly painful for your shoulders, it also forbids you to breathe correctly and if we add exhaustion, it does not take long before your lungs simply stop to fill up. Tony and Jane were not trained soldiers like the others and their bodies would not be able to endure this treatment any longer.

Suddenly, the door was banged open and the sound of footsteps echoed through the room.

"_Bonjour, bonjour_." Armand glee. "How was your night? Mine was _fabuleuse_. Now, how about going back to our conversation?"

One by one, the guards hit the prisoners in their stomachs with sticks. Tony felt like he was going to spit out his entrails and coughed very hard, just as Natasha and Jane who was being heard for the first time in hours.

"Jane!" Thor shrieked before getting silenced by a second blow in the ribs.

"I like to have breakfast with ladies." the Frenchman added. "How about miss Foster? We haven't had the pleasure to talk I believe."

And he believed right, until now Jane and Natasha had not been interrogated which had reassured the men for a moment. But now that Jane was next on the list, they all protested in a horrified symphony. She was so small and fragile, such pains would kill her for sure.

"Take me, don't touch her!" Natasha yelled, covering the others with her voice.

"How noble." Armand laughed. "But how classic my dear Miss Romanov. I am sorry but I dislike scenarios I have already seen too many times." he took a second to think. "Though... your conversation with me could bring our dear Mister Barton to tell me a bit more about Fury's whereabouts. And I think he might know a little more about this than our tough friend Thor. Perfect! Unchain Miss Romanov and bring her here will you?"

Natasha did not move a muscle when the Ulgrech guards removed the chains from her wrists and took off the cloth that was blindfolding her. The light burned her eyes instantly, her shoulders felt like broken glass and she practically fell on her knees when she had to walk. Even though she was used to it, her entire body was in pain. Every inch of her skin, every bone was a nightmare. She felt her hands shaking with fear as Armand forced her to sit on a cold iron chair. Her arms, legs, neck and forehead were tied to the chair with leather bands that forbid any movement. The look in her eyes was determined and fearless, but she was trembling with apprehension, knowing she was going to go through hell and worst.

She took a look around and saw her friends chained. Their bodies were all bruised and marked by deep cuts and severe burns, except for Jane's. The two women had been undressed, standing in the cold with only their underwear left on. Another form of humiliation. _You'll pay for this, bastard_, she thought. As she was observing her friends, she took sight of something odd about Thor. He was no longer struggling nor yelling as the others were. His head was hanging on the side as if he was asleep, but his mouth was moving without making a sound. What was he doing?

She did not have any more time to think about it, for a guard started to beat her with a stick that had a sharp end. She tried hard not to yell but she broke into tears after a few blasts. Clint stormed in rage, dancing at the end of his chains, the roar that came out of his mouth was practically inhuman. He was on the merge of telling everything but Natasha managed to scream: "No! Clint, silence!". It was difficult to make a difference between her sobbing and her words but Barton understood and ,even though it was unbearable, he did not speak.

As Natasha's suffering was getting worst and worst, Thor was struggling to remain focused. He had spent the entire night trying to remember the spell his brother had once taught him: _the tongues of Gold and Silver_. The God of Mischief had created this spell when they were children for them to always be able to communicate. It had been years since he had last used this spell and he doubted that it would still work after all that had happened, but it was their only option left.

Natasha's screams were growing louder, Jane could not stop crying, Tony and Barton were raining insults on Armand... it was impossible to concentrate! His eyes closed, the God of Thunder was trying to close his mind as well, but it was so hard not to think about Jane's voice getting weaker with every second. This thought gave him the impulse: if he waited too long she was going to die, "_so focus Thor and wake your brain cells up!" _as Loki would had told him.

"_Loki...If you can hear me brother please come... we need you...we are dying..."_

His strength deserted him at once. This spell required training and a lot of energy. At least he had succeeded in reaching his brother's mind on the other side. Now it was only a matter of luck. Loki was their last chance.

…

"God damn it! Come on, run!"

"Wait, I have an idea..."

"No time for ideas!"

The sound of gun shot nearly destroyed their eardrums, for the concrete narrow corridor of the tunnel was not the best place to shoot. But they had no choice. As they were driving through the channel tunnel, they caught sight of a strange car following them. They had stopped on the emergency line to lose it but it stopped as well and four Ulgrechs came out of it. Still handcuffed to each other, Sigyn and Loki had jumped out of their vehicle to reach for the service exit door. Once in the small corridor -that looked more like a sewer- they started running, which was not simple for Sigyn who was still wearing her cocktail dress and high heels.

"Where do you think we're going, for Hell's sake!" Loki stormed as they were smashing another door open. Their pursuers were a little further behind, leaving them a few seconds to think.

"Out! What do you expect?" Sigyn snapped.

"There's nothing but water out there, genius. It's a dead end. Our only chance is to stop running and hide."

"Are you crazy? I only have two rounds left in my gun and these guys are three times bigger than Thor! Plus, there is nowhere to hide here."

"But I know how to lure them. Free me of those handcuffs and I'll show you."

"Yeah, smart ass, good one."

"I am serious, why would I betray you now? They want to kill me too. Free me and let me protect us, it's our only shot!"

Was he saying the truth? It was hard to believe she could trust him but... there were little options left. Not sure of knowing if she was doing the right thing, she picked the handcuffs' key in the pocket of her jacket and set Loki free.

The Ulgrechs were getting closer, in a few seconds they would be on them. On Loki's order, they both leant against the wall and the magician put a hand on the woman's head, muttering ancient words.

"Holly... They're coming, hurry!" she crackled as he was mumbling weird stuff, doing nothing but opening and closing his eyes.

"Please don't hate me for this." he suddenly smiled, stopping the incantation.

He grabbed both her arms and threw her right in the middle of the corridor, straight on the Ulgrechs. She fell on her back and saw the upside down enemies running towards her. The back of her dress tore like paper. She tried to reach her gun but her hand met an empty holster. _Son of a bitch!_ He had taken her weapon! Out of ideas, she kicked off her shoes, jumped back on her feet and turned to face the four hostiles, her fists in front of her face. She took a brief look at where Loki was... he was gone. The little bastard had made it out of the corridor with her gun and had left her here to be slain by the Ugrechs. Why had she listened to him?!

Time suspended for the short second that was separating her from the Ulgrech's attack. Her muscles were ready for battle and her knuckles cracked as she closed her right hand to throw it in the first enemy's face. Her arm stretched and...

Taken by her own strength, she stumbled and fell straight to the ground in a beautiful circle. She crashed on the floor with a gasp, her cheek embracing the concrete dirty floor. Stunned by the shock, she watched the Ulgrechs running past her, then disappearing at the next turn. They had not even seen her. Her fist had flown clean through them as if she had been a ghost and they had walked past her without noticing her presence.

All of a sudden, a black stain appeared on the wall by her side and shifted to take the shape of a man. It was Loki.

"You?" she breathed.

"We'll talk later, come on let's go back to the car."

He helped her up and they quietly headed for the tunnel. As they walked out of the door, Loki abruptly stopped Sigyn before a bullet reached her. A fifth Ulgrech had remained behind to wait for them. Loki had sensed the bullet it had shot before seeing it, therefor he had just had time to jump in front of Sigyn. The projectile got stuck in his lower ribs but he managed to turn around and shoot the attacker with Sigyn's gun. The creature was dead before touching the ground, a large hole dug into its forehead.

"Let's go now." Loki shrieked, holding the right hand side of his chest, blood flowing on his fingers.

Sigyn helped him get in the car and drove off as fast as the engine could run. Driving swiftly between the cars, she was trying to keep her mind clear.

"How bad is you injury? Talk to me!"

"I'll be fine." he breathed, using paper tissues he had found in the glove compartment to stop the bleeding. "My magic will have it cured in a minute."

"Don't ever do that again." she barked, her eyes focused on the road. "If I were not driving I would kick your teeth in."

"You're welcome! It's the last time I take a bullet for you."

"I was not referring to this! I'm mad 'cause you tossed me at our enemies!"

"I asked you not to hate me for this didn't I?"

"Stop playing with me!"

They were driving out of the tunnel as she yelled and the sunlight almost blinded them. She drove the car out of the highway and pulled over by a smaller road's side. She switched the power down and turned to Loki.

"I mean it you little cockroach" she grinned, her silver untidy hair falling around her refined face. "No more weird stuff like back there."

"I had to push you away from me." he explained, as the wound was slowly closing up. "The camouflage spell only works on isolated people, you were perfectly safe."

Even though he sounded sincere, she still doubted his words. He was not called the _Liesmith _for nothing. Her glance still aiming at him, she calmly stretched her arm towards him. Before he could make a move, she pressed her fingers in his open wound and pushed the bullet deeper in. Loki gasped but did not yell, his face was twisted with pain though.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted, trying to push her away without success.

"My gun." she coldly answered. "Give it back, now."

She took out her fingers from the bleeding injury only when he handed the weapon back.

"Don't ever take my weapon again." she said in a glacial tone, emphasizing each word. "One more thing, don't you dare think we're friends or anything. You are my prisoner and this is it. Just so you know, I despise you. Since your attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D and New-York last year."

It felt like a burning pain in his stomach. Of course. She was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent!

"I knew the agents you've killed. I even trained some of them. At their burials, I saw their children, their parents, their friends crying in front of their coffins. You are nothing but a despicable murderer. If it was up to me you would have been put down like a dog, you deserve no less. So stop acting like everything was fine 'cause even if I can't kill you I still can put you through hell."

There was no need for more. Pain dug it's way into Loki's mind along with a dreadful feeling of guilt. A part of him wanted to cry out "It was him, the other one, not me! It was the Tesseract!" but it would have been meaningless. Back when he was under the influence of the powerful artefact, he did not have much control of what he was doing. Even though he had not felt sorry, he had looked back at some of his actions with an uncomfortable feeling of "_why have I done this?". _His own hatred and cruelty had putted Sigyn out of his reach, along with Thor, Frigga and... Odin. Now Sigyn's judgment made it all quite clear, no apologies would ever suffice to _wipe out that much red..._

It was as he was thinking about those words spat at the agent Romanov's face, that a voice rang in his head. He recognized it at once, it was Thor's. But how?

"The tongues of Gold and Silver..." he said out loud.

Sigyn, who was busy starting the stolen car's engine, gave him a fierce glance. He ignored her despite his twisted feelings, trying to hear the voice that was whispering in his brain.

"_...we need you... we are dying." _Loki's heart started beating with apprehension, which surprised him for an instant. Since when was he that sensitive? _"Come back... Paris... come back..."_

The voice faded away and disappeared as quickly as it had started. He was not used to this spell any more, it made his head spin and it took him a handful of seconds to step back into reality. Thor was weak, he had sensed it, it was highly possible that he would die, along with the others. They were all in Paris in desperate need of his help and... and... so what? It was none of his concern after all. Why would he stick his neck out for _them_? Thor could die, it would only please him. _Let them all die._ He did not need them, he did not even have to go help Fury, Midgard was nothing to him after all. He was not going to...

"As Stark would say." he suddenly roared, stopping the stream of dark thoughts. "_Screw this_!"

He abruptly pulled the engine break and the car stopped instantly as it was about to get on the road. The woman agent, whose face had ended up in the wheel, took a deep breath to throw the worst insults at him when he caught her arm and started reciting incantations.

"What are you doing?!" she shrieked, trying to get out of his hold.

"I don't know!" he barked back. "I think it is the exact opposite of what I want but it doesn't matter!"

They instantly disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving the lonely car on the road side.

When they reappeared, Sigyn fell straight on the pavement, tearing her dress a bit more, revealing some parts she would rather have kept secret. She just had time to close her jacket over her red bra now that the top of her gown was history. Loki helped her up, taking a look around.

"What just happened now?" she asked, still shocked.

"Teleportation." Loki snarled. "I am not a God for nothing."

"Uh, where are we then?"

"Two streets from Armand Stark's mansion. We have to move fast."

Her bare feet and legs reminded Sigyn of the cold of French winter. But it was not what was the most disturbing thing. There was something new about Loki. His expression had changed, he looked determined and, still, an odd conflict was storming in his eyes, as if he was not choosing his actions.

"Why did you bring us back here? We were supposed to..."

"They need us." he interrupted. "And I told you, I don't know why I am doing this. Now come on and help me save those idiots."


	6. Saving and Killing

"Now _this_ is regrettable! If you will not use this beautiful tongue to tell me where Nick Fury is hiding I shall have to take it off." Armand Stark giggled in his ever so happy voice. His face was a few inches from Natasha's bruised cheek, she could smell the wine he had drank and see the smallest detail of his smiling face.

But she did not give a thing about it all, she was more preoccupied by her own pain. She could feel death coming, as sure as the sun rises, she was going to die. More than half of her ribs were broken and some had even pierced through her skin, letting blood roll down her stomach. The faintest move was bursting her rib-cage into flames and opening the wounds a bit more. The rest of her body was now covered by a red web of cuts and burns, her left femur was also broken, making her thigh look more like a water melon than a human limb. Her face was ravaged and it was possible that her right eye had been pierced, for it was a lot more painful than the rest and stayed hopelessly blind. In this very moment, Natasha Romanov was only wishing for death to come quick and put an end to her suffering.

Still hung by his wrists, Barton had stopped breathing when his jailers had taken off his blind folder. His eyes were seeing this atrocity but his mind was incapable of accepting it. Natasha, _his_ Natasha, in this estate... Tears had found their way up the archer's eyes and were now flowing down his cheeks. There was no need for more resistance, his last bit of strength had been blown away by the horrid vision and he was now crying like a lost child.

Armand's smile became larger and his perverse eyes sparkled with excitement. A Ulgrech guard handed him presses and opened up Natasha's mouth. The feeling of the guard's hand squeezing her broken jaw was unbearable, but she could not scream, for the contraction of her abs would have caused her lungs to be pierced by the cage of broken bones surrounding them.

"I must say." Armand explained to Barton, while putting the presses inside her mouth. "I don't know what will kill her first, the blood loss or the shock?" He turned to the archer with a _Ttt tt_ of his tongue. "You should have been nicer to me."

The man turned to Natasha and Barton shouted an inarticulate lament of despair. His scream was imitated by his three partners. The red haired agent felt the cold of the presses on her swollen tongue. The tool slowly started to pull and the ligaments were about to break...

...

Armand froze. He looked over the back of the iron chair where his victim was seated and saw one of the four Ulgrech guards falling like a rag-doll. Something was sticking out of its neck, spilling drops of black blood. Before he could say a thing, Armad saw a shadow on the wall in front of him and jumped on the side to avoid the blade that was flying straight to his head. He saw the weapon in more detail as it got stuck in the plexus of the guard that stood behind him. It was an Ulgrech weapon, the enemy was using his soldiers' own weapons against them. The frenchman shouted orders to his guards, but they were falling one by one. Plaster and teared shards of metal were flying everywhere, filling the air with white dust. Fights were brief and fatal, shrieks of pain echoed and died quickly. Soon, the iron doors were locked and nothing moved except Armand's shaking hands.

"Unbound them, hurry!"

"Wait, I'm securing the door..."

"You think you're securing anything with your lady's hands, mister?"

"And do _you_ think it is the appropriate moment for arguing?"

"Loki!"

Thor had shouted loud enough to silence both Sigyn and Loki. They realised they had better things to do than chatting and freed everyone carefuly. Once he was on his feet, Barton tried to run to Natasha, but fell like a baby learning how to walk, his legs frail as cotton. Sigyn helped her friend up as Loki went to Natasha's chair. A sudden nausea rose in his stomach when he saw the ravaged body of the woman agent. He felt sorry for her, even thought he had once wished to do it himself. He gently took off the leather bounds and put both his hands on her head to let his healing magic spread through her body. A golden light wrapped itselft around her wounds to cure the cuts and burns. When she finaly could breathe again, Loki left her to finish healing and helped Sigyn in freeing the others. Tony Stark leant against the wall, his head spinning, he rose a hand in front of him, pointing at the door which had started to shake.

"How 'bout getting the hell outta here?" he proposed.

Sigyn nodded and tossed a glance at Loki.

"Can you... teleport us or something?" she asked, praying that he would say yes.

"As I said, I am not a God for nothing. Of course I..."

"I take that as a yes."

Using her supernatural strength, she lifted Stark and Barton and pulled them toward the center of the room. Still gasping on the chair, Natasha caught Clint's hand and squeezed it, feeling life coming back to her. Thor, who was feeling almost fine, carried Jane in his arms. Once everyone was reunited in a thick group, Loki prepared himself for the transfert.

"Hold on." snaped Sigyn as she spotted Armand Stark against the door that was about to be cracked open by the Ulgrechs. "You're coming along, _Monsieur_."

She grabbed him by the leg and dragged him over the floor, not caring about his struggling. More explosions drummed against the door, filling the room.

"Let's go _now_!" yelled Natasha.

Loki did not hesitate and pronounced the incantation.

Tony Stark was not a man who could be impressed that easily, but what happened there did impress him. It lasted for about one second, yet felt like an hour. They flew over the earth, crossed the way of burning stars, and got so close to the moon they could almost touch it. The image was very brief, but got stuck inside the billionaire's mind. It also made him think that exploiting the idea of tourism around the moon, could be a financial boost.

The landing however, did not go as smoothly as the flight. Loki was too weak to remain focused any longer and they all fell like rocks on the hard ground. According to the Liesmith's calculations, they were somewhere in Scotland, where Fury and the Asgardians were supposed to be waiting.

"Where are we?" asked Tony. He tried to get up but realised Barton's legs were on top of his chest.

"Looks like a field." answered Natasha in a shaky voice. She was shivering sitting in the cold grass with only her underwear on. "How will we find Fury without... anything? All our stuff stayed behind, in Paris."

"No worries, Tasha." Barton coughed. "There's a solution riding our way."

As a matter of fact, there was. A hundred feet away was a small road on which a car was slowly making its way. The driver had not seen the odd group of half naked people covered with dirt and blood, and was driving in their direction.

All eyes went to Loki, who was the last fully dressed man. He, then, looked at Sigyn who rolled her eyes. She realy had to do everything here. It took her a few seconds to reach the road, stop the car, and scare the driver away after stealing his vehicule and cell-phone.

"Why do I always have to be the bad guy?" she breathed as she sat on the road, lighting a cigarette. Natasha and Jane had been rolled in the coat and jumper that had been found in the trunk, putting an end to their cold torture. Tony had personaly taken care of his beloved cousin, locking him up in the trunk. For now, they were safe. The Ulgrechs did not know where they were and they had the mole. Now the last thing left to do was to find Fury and the hundreds of Asgardian refugees.

Natasha and Tony were buy hijacking the stolen cell-phone when Loki asked Thor for a more private conversation. He noticed that the God of Thunder was looking at Jane as if she was about to vanish at any time. They walked up the road a few feet from the car and face the green valley in front of them.

The very thought was making him sick, but Loki had to tell Thor. He had to tell him his father was gone. For the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, Loki did not know what to say. He awkwardly stared at the ground, getting more nervous with every second passing by.

"You came back for us." the god of Thunder whispered in a tired tone. A faint smile apeared on his lips.

"I heard you using the tongues of Gold and Silver." Loki automaticaly answered, still looking at the ground.

Thor's shoulders lifted, he took a deep breath and looked a little releaved.

"Father will be happy to know that." he said, his smiling getting even larger. "You did not abandon us. Maybe he will grant you your freedom after..."

"No, Thor." Loki interrupted, his voice harshened by grief. "Fath... Odin is no more. The Ulgrechs killed him when they attacked the Shield." even though he knew it was childish, he turned aside to avoid Thor's eyes. "And I swear to you... I am not lying."

Sigyn only heard the last sentence of this brief conversation, but understood it all when she saw the look on Thor's face. Loki had walked away, up the field, without even looking at him. Thor stayed there, motionless, staring at the fields. He could not believe it. It felt like his brain had switched off at the very thought of it, as if it was impossible.

"Fa... father? Father?" was all he could say. He looked around, helpless, trying to find something, someone perhaps. "Father?"

His hands rose to his face and he fell to his knees. Sigyn sat calmly by his side and put her arm around his wide shoulders, saying nothing, simply listening. She let go when she saw Jane rushing their way, she left the couple behind and followed Loki in the field. Crops cracked under her feet as she was getting closer. He too had fallen down.

"I lost everything." he breathed when he heard her steps stopping behind him. "I lost everything little by little and now there's nothing left..." He looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with tears he would have wanted to hide. "My choices led me here and there's no one else to blame but me. I have lost my home, my family... I have lost... you."

Her hatred for him had not diminished, but somehow, Sigyn could not bear to see him like this. Not realy sure of what she was allowing herself to do, she wrapped her arms around Loki's neck and hugged him. This unexpected contact struck Loki to the bone, leaving him breathless. He took her arms in his hands, not realising what was happening.

"I wanted to die when you dissapeared." he unconsciously said. He squeezed her arms, feeling the soft skin against his cheek. "You were the only person I trusted. And now that I found you... you don't remember me, you hate me as I hated the whole universe for years."

When she let go of him, Loki suddenly felt abandonned, all the strength she had given him had vanished, leaving him empty. She was now standing before him, her cold eyes above him felt like two ice daggers planted in his chest.

"What did you say?" her deep voice growled like the gathering storm. "What is it that you could know?"

"Everything." he answered, standing up to face her. "We had no secrets. I used to know you like a sister." His hand rose and she did not make a move when he pushed away a strand of silver hair above her eye. "You are not from this world. You are an Asgardian, but you forgot it all. I recognised you because I was the one who knew you best, Sigyn. You have wandered on this Earth for so long, not knowing why you were here, why you could not die when all your friends were growing old around you."

"You knew me before..."

"Before Scandinavia, yes. We grew up together, your father was an alchemist." gently, he took her wrist and lifted the sleeve to uncover the golden bracelet. "Frigga offered you this for your birthday, but you dropped it in the river. Thor and I jumped straight away to fetch it. I was the lucky one who found it and you gave me a kiss." he laughed softly at the memory. "But it was so long ago."

He turned away and started to walk back to the car. It was a gasp from Sigyn that stopped him. To his surprise, she had not moved a muscle and was staring at him, eyes wide with shock.

"So they were not dreams?" She choked. "All these visions I've had... of a golden city in the clouds."

"What?!" Loki ran back to her, emotion strangling him.

"I always dream of... a boy. A boy and a waterfall."

"They are not dreams, Sigyn." he came closer and grabbed her arms to look straight in her eyes. "Remember. _You jump if I jump?_"

The music of the words flew through her memory, growing louder and louder to finaly become an unbearable thunder drumming in her brain. Her eyes opened wide as she saw the boy who had become a man. He was standing there, holding her closer than she could bear. He was no longer a ghost, he had a name: Loki.

"You..."

Her sentence vanished from her thoughts when Tony Stark's voice called out to them.

"Hey, move it!" He called, starting the car. "We contacted Fury, they're being attacked, some damn portal opened and now it's chaos. Let's go now!"

**[I am so sorry for this short chapter but the next chap will be quite long since it will be ****the last**** and I haven't published in ages so I wanted to hurry up and give you a little something. Now the vacations are upon me ^^ I'll be able to write the end pretty fast, promise! Thanks for reading, it's a real pleasure to know people enjoy my work =P Thank you!]**


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